Last saturday turned into a little bit of a nightmare for me, the main surgery took 8 hours and wow she did a grand job considering how much saggy skin i had on my boobies but 2 hours later and 3 cups of tea, i had to go back into surgery at midnight for correction of a haematoma that was forming in my left breast, this took a further 2 hours, so i had a lot more surgery than i was anticipating, i had to have 4 transfusions the next day and drains came out yesterday and i came home today, but everything is sore and swollen, with so much surgery time now i am carrying a lot of fluid. I have a compression bra on for my breasts and compression legs on for my knees. I obviously wasnt anticipating so many problems but it does happen, it was scarey at the time but i knew this was a complication that could occur .

I am home now and my band is playing up big time, i am sticking on most solid food due to being swollen but am able to drink without problem so am concentrating on liquids and mushy foods to get the nutrients in me to help with healing.

I will see if i can post a few pics soon. Normally a breast lift isnt as extensive as my one but dont get compliant that this skin removal is an easy option as it isnt. I was lucky i had really good recovery from abdominoplasty and brachioplasty, but it may take a little longer than u think to get back to full strength if u develop a few problems like i did.

The main thing is, that i am home after 4 night hospital stay and know i am starting the road to recovery .

Good luck to all of you who are having surgery soon, be realistic and always keep your before and after pictures close to you to know where u have come from, its so easy to get over critical of this sort of surgery and forget where u started from

will keep u all updated on the progress ...

Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Wishing you a speedy recovery with no further complications!

Firstly thank you all for your kind words they are much appreciated.

Secondly a word of caution ...

This is hard for me to admit, but i was soo wrong not to go and have some Fluid removed from my band before the operation, i honestly thought oh my band is a little loose and so i dont need more fluid removed and being an 'old hand' at this plastic surgery skin removal i thought i was making the right decision, but i did not. If i had had no complications from the surgery i would probably have got away with my band having the fluid levels it did have, but who could predict a complication of a heamatoma resulting in emergency surgery, more iv fluids more transfusions and more swelling than u can ever imagine. This has impacted on my lap band big time whereby i am able to drink fluids, but solid food is just a no no at the minute, and that of course impacts on your healing process. So not only do i have to recover from the surgery but i now have to watch what i eat and drink so much it is making me miserable, i am hungry but know i will stick, i am concentrating on milky drinks and smoothie type food for now, as my port is on my breast bone and that area is post operatively swollen, to get an unfill now would not be an easy proceeedure if it was possible at all.

So the moral of this story is, cater for the unexpected and emergency situations even if they dont arise, caution should be the overriding factor not the lack of it which is my tale. ...

Today is a better day having been home for 24 hours now and i am able to cater to my band as best i can so please listen and learn for those contemplating surgery and take heed of my story which should still have a happy ending, but a lot of misererable times in between because i thought i knew best !!

I'll definitely be keeping you in my prayers for a speedy recovery. I can only imagine the discomfort you're dealing with.

Btw, I second your thoughts about getting the band unfilled for surgery. I just had surgery 2 days ago (gallbladder) and it was performed by the same surgeon who did my Lap Band. He gave me a choice before going under to have Fluid removed and I declined- bad move on my part. Like you, with all the swelling (I'm retaining a ton of fluids) I am seriously struggling to eat solids. I know it will pass and what's causing it, but in retrospect I should've got the unfill.

Rest well and recover quickly!

I'll definitely be keeping you in my prayers for a speedy recovery. I can only imagine the discomfort you're dealing with.

Btw, I second your thoughts about getting the band unfilled for surgery. I just had surgery 2 days ago (gallbladder) and it was performed by the same surgeon who did my Lap Band. He gave me a choice before going under to have Fluid removed and I declined- bad move on my part. Like you, with all the swelling (I'm retaining a ton of fluids) I am seriously struggling to eat solids. I know it will pass and what's causing it, but in retrospect I should've got the unfill.

Rest well and recover quickly!

You too missy, i know u havent been well either so i wish you well too, hopefully we can encourage others to get unfills before surgery and not go through similar problems to what you and i are having..